A rare case of delayed massive rectal bleeding, after transrectal ultrasound- guided prostate biopsy, requiring a multidisciplinary approach treatment

Rectal bleeding seen after a transrectal ultrasound-guided prostate biopsy is often mild and self-limiting. We report a rare case of delayed massive rectal bleeding, post transrectal ultrasound-guided biopsy, in a man in active surveillance for prostate carcinoma, without risk factors for bleeding. We managed this complication with a successfully angiographic embolization.We present this case in detail and we analyze the possible causes of this complication.

Safety and timing of resuming dabigatran after major gastrointestinal bleeding reversed by idarucizumab

The recent introduction of direct oral anticoagulants, including rivaroxaban, dabigatran, apixaban, and edoxaban, for the acute treatment and secondary prevention of venous thromboembolism and in atrial fibrillation has been shown to provide greater clinical benefit than oral vitamin K antagonists. However, direct oral anticoagulants are associated with adverse events, the most common being major bleeding; such events require the reversal of the anticoagulant effects by specific agents. In this case report, we describe an 87-year-old female with atrial fibrillation treated with dabigatran who had massive rectal bleeding. Idarucizumab 5 g (2 × 2.5 g/50 mL) was successfully used to reverse dabigatran effect; subsequent to this, treatment with dabigatran was resumed, and there were no further bleeding events. This suggests that dabigatran can be safely restarted after major bleeding, but this outcome needs to be confirmed in studies involving larger groups of patients.